Just look at how many #PTW18 tweets were tweeted during Philly Tech Week 2018 presented by Comcast. Hover over the bubbles and it magnifies the message and image within the tweet. The size of the bubble correlates to how much engagement it received and notes whether it was a retweet or straight from the source. Isn’t it rad to see hashtag results this way instead of the way we’re used to seeing it just written out on a page? We thought so too.

This hashtag reach visual was created by Rosa Torres, a Technical.ly member. Rosa attended our members-only happy hour at our offices back in March and then offered to show us what she means when she promised she could turn our data into “visual inspiration” anytime we wanted, pro bono. (Did I mention our CEO was serving up old-fashioneds?)

Read on to hear how we ended up working with Rosa’s startup to present the outcomes of our brand’s largest, most impactful event series of the year — a week built from an insane amount of preparation and perspiration from the Philly tech community. Scroll down to see the results of what some said was the best PTW yet!

Technical.ly Philly: When did you first hear of Technical.ly and why did you become a member?

Rosa Torres: I first came across Technical.ly three years ago on Twitter, so I followed and eventually subscribed to the newsletters. I saw a tweet for membership from Technically Media one day about here’s your chance to be the first to a secret members-only meeting where you could hang with the staff and our network. That caught my attention. It sounded like I might not be alone in my advocacy of the brand so I signed up for the Technical.ly membership and attended to meet who these other members!

Advertisement

TP: What was that like? I mean, you know we kinda just threw that together. Was it alright?

RT: Meeting the TM staff has been a windfall! At the happy hour, I learned about their roles and passions to share stories about technologists right here in our city. I met the event coordinator, Alexandria Leggett, through a simple hello and business card exchange and she was interested in learning more, so I opened my phone to show her my work with the City of Philadelphia and she goes, “Oh, this is REAL” and next thing you know she’s emailing me with updates on your team wanting to work with me as I had offered to lend my services as a super fan of Technical.ly’s work through journalism and events to create social and economic impact by strengthening the community, increasing knowledge and advancing technology. I am overwhelmed with joy to have this opportunity you’ve extended to me to use my talents to share your company’s story of impact.

TP: Aw shucks, thanks, Rosa. What can people expect when they work with you and how can they get in touch with you?

You’re welcome. It’s always going to be a collaboration. We even collaborate. Data Imprint brings you complete data solutions. Data strategy. Data collection. Data visualization. For nonprofits and the like, we will make sure you understand the data and can demonstrate just how you impact and strengthen the communities that you serve.

TP: Why did you create Data Imprint?

RT: Data Imprint was founded in 2017 with the belief that data visualization can help propel social change forward. I come from a business intelligence and data analysis background from 15 years working in IT. I recognized the gap in data in the social sector while I was working in mostly corporate settings and knew I had the skillset to help [nonprofits] leverage their data and saw it as an opportunity for me to impact social change. Finding a way to use your talents and intersect with your purpose to create personal drive is essential.

TP: Why data visualization?

RT: Data visualization is becoming a communication medium in its own right, able to inform and engage people. It is essential in making data more accessible, and this is critically important in the social sector. There are 8,600 nonprofits in Philadelphia that I can work with in partnership with Vereti to provide a complete data solution with the visual aspect that the private and public sector have come now to expect.

TP: How can people get in touch with you then? The next Technically Media member mixer?

So, full disclosure, this author did not do the leg work on the above report. It was Kevin Lynch, the newest member of the Technically Media team who joined the company last week as our first Product Analyst.

Lynch began as a Technical.ly intern while studying at Temple University. After working for us as a part-time contractor during his last two semesters, we decided to bring him on full-time (he is now known lovingly at HQ as “Full-Time Kev”). It’s a little proof that we ourselves are getting better at this leveraging data thing.